The sun had barely risen when Calen crossed the old stone bridge out of Ludan.
Behind him, the Phoenix Flame Tavern stood quiet in the morning fog. Ahead, the road wound southward, vanishing into the woods like a ribbon of grey.
He adjusted the strap of his satchel and checked the fit of his Æther Gauntlet. Its cannon module was dormant, but the power cell still hummed faintly beneath the surface... comforting.
The road was empty. Just him, the wind, and the soft crunch of his boots against dirt and gravel.
~~~
Day One
[Destination: Twilight Empire — Est. Journey Time: 34–41 Days On Foot]
[Star Stream Core: 89%]
~~~
By midday, the path turned narrow and overgrown, swallowed by dense woods. Pines loomed overhead like spears pointed toward the sky. Their shadows blanketed the forest floor in stripes of dark and darker.
Calen paused at a bend in the trail and pulled out a thin, cloth-bound manual from his satchel.
"Wilderness Survival: A Tactician's Handbook (Volume I)"
He flipped to a bookmarked section.
For Southward Forest Travel:
Always mark your trail.
Avoid open fires unless necessary.
Listen. The woods always speak first.
He clicked his tongue. "How poetic."
Still, he marked a nearby tree with a small metal chisel from his kit, then moved on.
~~~
The woods were beautiful in that dangerous, indifferent way.
Thick moss muffled his steps. Strange birds cried above—hoarse, guttural things that didn't sound like any species he knew. Once, he passed a glade dotted with pale blue mushrooms that pulsed faintly in the shade.
[Unknown Flora Detected]
[Echo: "Do not eat those."]
He didn't.
He reached a small stream by dusk and set up camp. No fire. Just dried rations, a collapsible shelter rigged between two trees, and his HUD scanning for movement.
~~~
That night, it started.
The sound.
A click.
Somewhere beyond the trees. Too precise to be natural. Too slow to be insect.
Calen froze.
His HUD flickered.
[Passive Scan: Inconclusive]
[Sound Profile: Unknown]
The click came again. Closer.
Then silence.
He stayed awake for hours, Æther Gauntlet armed under the blanket.
Nothing approached. Nothing attacked.
But he didn't sleep.
~~~
Day Two
[Star Stream Core: 84%]
[Weather: Clear. South Winds. Mild]
~~~
By morning, Calen had covered another fifteen kilometers.
He chewed a strip of Brunna's dried meat while walking. Salty. Tough. Better than rations.
The trees changed. Taller now. Thicker bark. Less light.
And the clicking had returned.
Not constant—just brief bursts. Like something scraping metal against stone. Sometimes to the left of the trail. Sometimes ahead. Sometimes behind.
He quickened his pace.
Midway through the afternoon, he paused at a broken tree stump and found… something.
A footprint.
Three-toed. Deep. Pressed into the damp soil like it weighed hundreds of kilos. But the spacing was wrong—it was walking on the trees, not the ground.
[Echo: "…Yeah, that's new."]
~~~
By nightfall, he set camp in a low ravine, partially covered by fallen logs.
This time, he rigged proximity wires and a trip-noise system using scrap, string, and three old bottle caps.
And still… click. Click. Click.
A cold wind brushed his neck.
[Unknown Heat Signature Detected – Distant – Tracking Behavior Confirmed]
"Should I engage?" Calen whispered.
[Echo: "Negative. Not until we confirm what it is. Save your core power."]
He didn't sleep again.
~~~
[Note: Two days in. Seventeen clicks logged. Seven false alarms. One real track. Something's following. But not attacking.]
[Destination: Twilight Empire — Est. Journey Time: 32–39 Days On Foot]
~~~
Calen stared up at the canopy of stars from beneath the log shelter.
The forest whispered. The thing clicked.
And the road still stretched endlessly ahead.